Be Tired Of Doing vs. Too Tired To Do
Oxford distinguishes tired of doing, meaning that someone has had enough of an activity, from too tired + infinitive contexts, where tired describes insufficient energy or need for rest.
“Tired of doing” means fed up with an activity; “too tired to do” means lacking enough energy to do it. They express different meanings and use different structures.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| being fed up with or weary of repeatedly doing an activity | tired of + -ing | use this when the activity itself has become unwelcome |
| lacking enough energy to perform an action | too tired + to-infinitive | use this when fatigue prevents or limits the action |
Quick tests
Fed-up-or-fatigued test
Does “tired” mean fed up with the activity, or physically/mentally too fatigued to perform it?
If yes: Use “tired of + -ing” for being fed up with the activity.
If no: Use “too tired to + verb” for insufficient energy.
Caveat: The difference is semantic as well as grammatical; replacing one with the other changes the meaning.
Examples
I am tired of repeating the same correction.
“Tired of + -ing” means fed up with the repeated activity.
I am too tired to review another chapter tonight.
“Too tired to + verb” means insufficient energy to do it.
She was tired of waiting, but not too tired to walk home.
The example makes the meaning contrast explicit.
Further guidance
Core difference
Use tired of + -ing for being fed up with an activity; use too tired + to-infinitive when tiredness prevents or limits an action.
Style Boundary
Do not collapse the emotional “fed up with” sense into the physical-energy construction.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- tired adjective — Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · Preferred-dictionary evidence distinguishing tired of doing from too tired + infinitive contexts